The main theme through chapters ten to fifteen is one of rebirth and recursive haunting as Amir transitions from a boy to a man. In chapter ten we see a young Amir who moves from his hometown in Kabul to America. In doing this Amir is looking for a chance at a new life. It is an attempt to outrun his heavy conscience that resulted after letting Hassan’s rape take place.
By chapter 11, Amir has grown and is now a man attending college living in California. Amir is soon to find though that his past is not one that can be forgot or left behind. Still existing is his childhood memories; from the good times he spent with Rahim Khan, to his childhood home, but most of all the day he left Hassan hanging high and dry to experience first hand, one of the most degrading acts known to mankind that is rape. Accompanying these reoccurring flashbacks to his past, are the words of Amir’s father to magnify his cowardice. After Amir’s graduation from college he was given a car by his father, who then goes on to mention how he “[wishes] Hassan had [of] been with us today” making Amir have to “[roll] down the window, [waiting] for the steel hands to loosen their grip” (181). This just goes to show that Amir was misled in thinking he could move away from his problems. Instead they seemed to have magnified, making it even harder for him to continue on with his life.
Another area of Amir’s life that has taken a hit all thanks to his past would be his love life. While in America, Hassan meets a young woman by the name of Soraya and falls in love with her. After their relationship has time to blossom Amir asks for Soraya’s hand in marriage. Time eventually passes and the time comes where the two lovers want to start a family. Unfortunately, Soraya is unable to get pregnant. The situation begins to stirs up feelings of emptiness and sorrow, taking a toll on their relationship and slowly [seeping] into [their] marriage” (199). Amir begins to think that this inability to reproduce is being caused do to something or someone “[deciding] to deny [him] fatherhood for the things [he] had done” (198). What other aspects of Amir’s life will be affected by his past next?
